TV Review: THE BORGIAS: Season 2, Episode 10: The Confession

The Borgias Season 2 Episode 10 The Confession Review. The Borgias: Season 2, Episode 10: The Confession may be the best episode of this season. This season has been better that the previous season and many of the plots begun and nurtured throughout both seasons came to fruition in this episode.

The fallout from Juan Borgia (David Oakes)’s death in this episode was more dramatic than his actual murder.

No Borgia is truly upset Juan is gone expect for his father, Pope Alexander/Rodrigo Borgia (Jeremy Irons). It is from The Pope that most of the emotion in his episode is derived from (though Lucrezia Borgia (Holliday Grainger) has a memorable moment over Juan’s body).

The Pope constantly saw and heard the distaste certain children had for each other, e.g. one kills the other’s lover, yet he thought these incidents were only passing storms. He finds out quite bluntly that he was wrong.

This episode had more than a few reflective moments, the best being between The Pope and former Cardinal Cesare Borgia (François Arnaud) at the end of the episode. From Cesare’s reaction, the viewer could tell that The Pope had never told him that he saw himself when he looked at Cesare and that he held him in such high regard. A similar moment was seen between Lanista and son in one of the later episodes of Spartacus: Gods of the Arena.

The standout moment in the episode was Juan’s burial, backed by a moving orchestra accompaniment (if that is original music for the show, the movement’s writer should be commended), and intercut with Lucrezia’ s betrothal celebration. The viewer gets to see Juan as his father always saw him, as his little boy. It is one of the most touching, well-crafted scenes in the series so far.

The scene also derived its excellence from the fact that it was a personal moment between father and son, in the dark, juxtaposed with a celebration going on in candle light.

The final scene in the episode was very surprising and the best cliffhanger of the series (the viewer will be anxiously anticipating the first episode of Season 3) yet how can it truly be a cliffhanger when the poison used is so potent, potent enough to kill someone that had been thoroughly fortified against its effects.

The viewer can easily check the history books to find out what the outcome will be but the show may have a few tricks up its sleeve.

For more The Borgias reviews, photos, videos, and information, visit our The Borgias Page.

About the author

Rollo Tomasi

A Political Science and MBA grad who started FilmBook during an eCommerce B-School course in 2008. Cinema and TV addict. Former writer at Empire Movies, Blogcritics, and Alternative Film Guide. In addition to writing for FilmBook, he also edits the copy published on the website, manages its writing staff, manages the back-end operations, site finances, its social network accounts, and works with publicists, actors, and companies on press coverage and promotions. He has also created ProMovieBlogger.com and Trending Awards.com.